It’s a scary word – paralyzing, in fact, for many of us…
It’s a word that we hope to never hear, but one that most of us will hear at some point in our lives…
Cancer.
If we are lucky enough to never come face-to-face with it, we will probably experience cancer secondhand through someone we know, someone we love, or even someone we just met.
Here at Real Estate Mogul, we talk about our “inner game" each Monday. But rarely, if ever, have we shared a story that is so close to home, so life-changing, so mind-altering, and not at all about real estate.
Well, that’s where we’re going today.
A Different Side of Cory Boatright
In today’s lesson, I’d like to take some time to share with you a story from one of our own faculty advisors and owner of ShortSaleOlogy.com, Cory Boatright. His recent experience with cancer is a powerful one, and the lessons he gained from it are truly inspiring.
I encourage you to check out some of Cory’s previous posts. Get to know him, and I think you’ll find that his story will come to life a bit more for you.
Click below to hear Cory's cancer story, in his own words…
Cory has always been the picture of health. I’m talkin’ four days a week in the gym and a healthy diet that includes juicing (which, if you’re not familiar, is a great way to incorporate fruits and veggies and tons of micro-nutrients into your diet). In other words, Cory is a bit of a health nut.
While on a much-needed vacation, his buddy noticed a lump on his neck. Cory laughed it off and thought “We’re dudes. We have lumps and bumps, and who cares.” But after closer examination, Cory realized the lump wasn’t your typical guy bump, lump or bruise.
If you’re squeamish, you might want to skip over this next part…
After several needles to the throat (ugh) and umpteen sticks in the arm for blood samples, Cory received the news that he had Thyroid Cancer, at 35 years of age.
Shock.
Paralyzing Fear.
Denial.
These are all some of the emotions that Cory first experienced, naturally.
But the good news was that Thyroid cancer is actually one of the “better” cancers to have. With only a 3-5% mortality rate, Thyroid Cancer can be cured, if caught early. In Cory’s case, it was.
After a few weeks of intense research, Cory found a surgeon who specialized in Thyroid Cancer and Thyroidectomies at the Cancer Center Treatment of America. Exactly one month after he received the news, he went under the knife to remove the cancer and his thyroid glands on Christmas Eve, 2012. Some may say “what a craptastic way to spend Christmas Eve!” But, I’m guessing Cory thought of it a bit differently.
Cory Invites Others to Learn and Grow with Him
Cory video blogged his journey the entire way, from “D” day to surgery day to “days of the walking dead” (which sums up his energy level and mental state sans thyroid). Thankfully, he now reports that he is 90% back to where he was, pre-cancer news. Thyroid medicine has much to do with is recovery, of course. But meds are only half the battle, as Cory shared with us.
Cory believes that there are no problems in life – only opportunities. Adapting and overcoming challenges – even when things look hopeless – is all about mind power. If you think it, it can be.
From the moment that fear set in, Cory looked his fear in the face and swore, “You will not defeat me”. His advice in his words: “Your worst day is someone else’s day in paradise in a third world county.”
Think about that next time you’re faced with a challenge you think you can’t handle. Whatever you’re going through, somewhere, someone out there is going through something must worse. This will help put your challenge/opportunity into perspective.
This is my favorite line of Cory’s by far: “Cancer was my bitch.” Harsh words but one powerful message. Keep control of your mind to keep control of your challenge. Dominate it. Overcome it. Don’t let it consume you and break your spirit.
There is Great Power in Sharing Your Story
Cory believes we are all powerful people, and as such we have the power to control our fears. If it takes looking in the mirror and giving yourself a pep talk, so be it. Have faith in yourself, in your inner strength, and remember that when life pulls a Floyd to Ortiz sucker punch, whether it’s cancer or some other life-changing challenge, resist the urge to be reclusive.
Instead, share your story and invite those around you to share in your experience, as Cory has done. This will help you learn and grow and apply the lessons you learn from your experience to future experiences. And, who knows, you may even change someone else’s life.
{Mogul Elite: Download a transcript and MP3 of this lesson in the Power Pack tools for this lesson.}
Enjoy & Apply – Take Cory’s story to heart, to apply it to your own life in some way, and watch how your renewed perspective on life’s challenges/opportunities will help you overcome unnecessary fears.
Share – Share your ongoing life story with other people (warts and all), so your pain is not wasted, and so your challenges/opportunities can inspire others to rise above their own trials.
Rally Your Team – Proactively rally your team of storytellers to face life’s challenges head-on, with confidence, grace, and relentless determination – just like Cory.
Cory Boatright
has started, run, or been directly involved with almost forty different companies since his early twenties. Many of them required good selling skills. That wasn’t a challenge for Cory. He has sold everything from Ginsu knives on eBay and Kirby vacuum cleaners door-to-door all the way to $50,000 high-end electronics online. Out of the forty-something companies, only two of them ever proved to be worthwhile endeavors. The other thirty-eight he decided to call “business therapy”. Interestingly enough, both of the successful companies harnessed the power of the Internet to make their profits. After bringing in almost 4 million dollars in sales from the first company, Cory sold it and directed his passion to the world of real estate investing. Now he runs Shortsaleology.com and has both successful students and certified Shortsaleology trainers that teach every type of real estate investing known to man-kind. Cory has an incredible team that helps people achieve all their dreams and his own. Cory considers the greatest lesson he's learned in life is "Remember... be a servant".